A map of India showing the dominant economic activities at the district and town level, where users can contribute data, download data and give comments on what is happening there. This will be supported by research reports from within and outside of CDF

The Indian economy is characterized by the existence and large dependence on traditional cities for economic sustenance. Even as this dependence on traditional cities for economic growth is intact, a few cities have indeed emerged with varied economic activities and have become centres of economy independently. One of the most important challenges facing India over the next few decades is identification and nurturing these new drivers of economic growth.

Our study will focus on these emerging “economic hot-spots” and the growing cities, which would be the new economic powerhouses running the domestic economy over the next few decades. The outcome of this study would help identify the logistics of the growing infrastructure needs of the country. It would also identify emerging governance gaps by providing insightful information on the type of economic activities that drive growth in different regions. This would particularly be helpful in the environmental risk assessment of a region, as industrial growth has often been associated in India with negative environmental externalities and pose sustainability problems.

Though growth trends take time to get noticed due to a number of lags, this project would seek to disseminate important economic parameters that could be used as early indicators. Over time, such tracking could show instances of growth of economic activities, formation of clusters, short-lived clusters and bridge gaps in estimating infrastructure and other public services need estimation. In particular, constant updating of the database could signal emerging governance pressures and how they are dispersed geographically.